At a moment when teams around the league are stocking their roster with rookies, the Titans have added a veteran safety to the mix.

The Titans announced they have signed Kendrick Lewis, who took part in the team’s recent minicamp on a tryout basis, to a deal for the 2018 season. Safety Denzel Johnson has been dropped from the roster in a corresponding move.

Lewis was a fifth-round pick by the Chiefs in 2010 and spent four seasons in Kansas City before moving on to Houston in 2014. He spent the next two seasons with the Ravens and has been out of the league since they released him last year. He’s made 81 career starts and has 323 tackles, nine interceptions and seven forced fumbles.

The Titans have Kevin Byard and Jonathan Cyprien back from last season, but Da’Norris Searcy‘s departure has left an opening in the reserve ranks that Lewis will try to fill.

It’s best he’s back in the locker room, he’s back around us, Crawford told the Morning News. I think it will be good for him and good for us. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told the Morning News on Wednesday, First and foremost, we’re more concerned with Randy fixing himself off the field. I applaud him. I think he’s worked hard to get to this point that he can apply for reinstatement. By no stretch are we just saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to bank on that. ‘ We’re still thinking about him and hoping he gets everything done the right way off the field.

Appearing on PFT Live, G.M. Dave Caldwell explained that Jackson, whom Caldwell and executive V.P. of football operations Tom Coughlin praised before the draft, wasn’t in the mix for the pick that ultimately became defensive tackle Taven Bryan.

“He was not at the time,” Caldwell said. “We did think very highly as him as a player. With his ability to create and create plays with his feet. We felt like that he was going to eventually be a player — that he could develop into a player that you can win with. That wasn’t the situation that we had for us with the pick at 29. We had some guys that we really coveted that we felt could come in and help us right away this year.”

“One thing my mentality is that I feel like I want to be the most conditioned team in the NFL next year, and I feel like if we’re the most conditioned team that in the fourth quarter it’s going to pay off,” Sanders said. “Be able to take advantage of this altitude. I can see it in guys just trying to get in shape and trying to get their conditioning up.

You gotta wonder if the Pats see something special in him, which is why it’s amazing that he’ll only cost them $10 million over the next two seasons.

After falling short of the Super Bowl in 2017, the Minnesota Vikings added one piece on each side of the ball that could help put them over the top. And while they paid a massive premium for quarterback Kirk Cousins on offense, they acquired a potential game-changer on defense for just $8 million with no strings attached beyond the 2018 season.

One of those moves fetched them 32-year-old Pro Bowler Aqib Talib in exchange for merely a fifth-round pick. The Denver Broncos were probably happy to get Talib off the books, but the Rams are clearly in win-now mode and feel they can afford to pay him the $19 million he’s owed over the final two years of his deal.

That’s not cheap, but it’s a lot less than the New York Jets are paying departed Rams top corner Trumaine Johnson. And beyond the money, they gave up practically nothing in exchange for a defender who has scored six touchdowns in the last four years.

Mailata was announced as an offensive tackle, and at 6-foot-8 and 346 pounds it makes sense that that’s the position the Eagles would want him to play. He’s never played American football before and he has a long, long way to go before the Eagles would trust him to protect Carson Wentz‘s blind side, but the raw talent is there.

The 20-year-old Mailata has been working with the same coach who prepared the German wide receiver Moritz Bohringer for his NFL workouts before the Vikings chose Bohringer in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL draft. Bohringer didn’t pan out and is currently out of the league, but Mailata is another player from overseas who will now get a chance in America’s game.

Despite taking a no decision in the Yankees’ 3-2 win at Yankee Stadium, Severino struck out 11 Red Sox and walked none while allowing two earned runs on six hits over six-plus innings.

Severino entered Tuesday at 5-1 with a 2.11 ERA. The Red Sox were responsible for his one loss when they pinned five earned runs on Severino over five innings in a 14-1 shellacking on April 10 at Fenway Park in Boston.

In the second meeting, the Red Sox ran into the pitcher who allowed six total earned runs across his other six previous starts.

Better breaking ball, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We put good at-bats. But he got creative throughout the game. All of a sudden, he lost his slider, he lost his fastball command. He throws a 3-0 changeup to Hanley (Ramirez), a 3-1 changeup to Hanley, then a fastball and he hits it back to the middle.”

On top of his April 10 outing, Severino entered Tuesday with a poor career track record against the Red Sox. In eight starts and nine total appearances against Boston prior to Tuesday, Severino was 2-5 with a 4.92 ERA.

Millen told the Morning Call that he is suffering from amyloidosis, a rare illness that has seriously damaged his heart and will likely require him to get a heart transplant.

Still, the 60-year-old Millen said he’s in good spirits and thankful for what he has, including a wife, four kids and seven grandkids. He says he’s optimistic he can continue working as a Big Ten Network analyst.

“While I’m still up on this side,” Millen said, “I’ll enjoy everything.”

Millen is even keeping his sense of humor, chuckling about the time that he chatted with one of his doctors, who was from Detroit and complaining about the Tigers losing.

“At least they’re not as bad as the Lions were a few years ago, when they didn’t win a game,” Millen said the doctor told him, unaware that Millen was the man who built the Lions’ 0-16 roster.

Although he was a failure as the Lions’ G.M., Millen had a good career as an NFL linebacker and has had a long career as a broadcaster as well. Here’s hoping he has many more years working around the sport he loves.

The Ravens acquired possession receivers Michael Crabtree and Willie Snead and speedster John Brown in free agency, and Hurst has the speed to get upfield and threaten linebackers and slot defenders on seam and post routes. Flacco’s game has declined over the last few seasons, and with the addition of Griffin as a backup, it’s clear that the team wants effective mobility at the position—and Jackson already has more on the ball as a passer than Griffin did at his peak.

Mulvaney’s statement was as brazen an explanation of the cost of doing business in Washington as anyone has made in a long time. But it no doubt shocked few people around the country, who hold a dim view of politicians and believe themselves always losers in the transactions of government. What Mulvaney said probably only reinforces what people already believe.

The work crew in King County, Washington is described as supervised manual labor for various public service agencies.

Despite entering the draft with six picks, tied for the fewest in the league, Detroit packaged its original second-round choice (No. 51) along with their fourth-round pick (No. 117) to the New England Patriots to make the move up the board.

Measuring in at 6-feet, 213 pounds, Johnson rushed for 1,391 yards (4.9 yards per carry) and 18 touchdowns for the Tigers last season. He also added 24 catches for 309 yards and two more scores. An aggressive runner, he broke 50 tackles on 285 carries, according to Pro Football Focus.

Titans (from Raiders) — Harold Landry, OLB, Boston College: He led the nation with 16½ sacks when he was fully healthy in 2016, but an ankle injury slowed him last year. Still, he’s one of the few premium edge rushers in this class, gives Tennessee more speed on sub-packages in a division with mobile quarterbacks and will allow the team insurance with current starting OLBs Brian Orakpo and Derrick Morgan set to be free agents in 2019.

City officials say they have not had any formal conversations with the Cleveland Browns about a new or remodeled stadium, although they would welcome the opportunity to work with the NFL team toward economic development.

However, Brady did add that if the ratings are dropping, it’s definitely not because his friends have stopped watching.

Michelle Wolf didn’t plan to sleep within steps of the White House. She just likes old hotels.

Then I remembered how close it was, the comedian said on a frigid February morning from the restaurant in the Hay-Adams. So yesterday, I walked outside and I was like, ‘Right. The White…

Avonte Maddox, a former standout in the defensive backfield at Detroit King, was selected by the world champion Philadelphia Eagles with the 25th pick of the fourth round (125th overall).

Rated by 247sports as a three-star prospect coming out of King, Maddox committed to Pittsburgh, where he was an immediate contributor as he played in all 13 games as a freshman. After starting all 13 games at cornerback as a sophomore in 2015, Maddox missed three games in 2016 and two in 2017 due to injury.

He wouldn’t beat Justify that day, but I’ll tell you what, he came out of that race really good. He cooled out in the testing barn after the race. He’s never trained better any time we’ve had him in the barn.

But Ruis had lost the race.

Then he lost his jockey.

For Ruis, it was not a day for California dreaming much less the aroma of Kentucky Derby roses. Javier Castellano, the jockey who had handled Bolt d’Oro so well, put the punctuation mark on Ruis’ doom and gloom. He telephoned the owner and told him:

I love your horse, but I never thought I would get this much pressure to ride Audible instead.

It was a jockey’s euphemism for I know how it feels to you, but a jockey can’t jeopardize his bread and butter.

Todd Pletcher has four horses in this Kentucky Derby and he wanted Castellano, who often rode for him, to be up on one of them.

When the Browns hired Hue Jackson away from the Bengals two years ago, it was his offensive scheming and play-calling that stood at the forefront.

After starting his Cleveland career with an unprecedented and ignominious 1-31 record, though, Jackson will relinquish those responsibilities to new coordinator Todd Haley.

As the Browns reported for rookie minicamp on Friday, Jackson acknowledged that Haley has been given total autonomy with the offense.

Those tweaks should lead to Green Bay allowing fewer points and generating more takeaways. The defense will be better positioned with its personnel to maximize the pressure Rodgers puts on the Packers’ opponents. In recent seasons, the defense has failed to give them the right brand of complementary football.

Pettine has operated some solid defenses with the Jets, Bills and even the Browns despite shaky quarterback play. He has never had a chance to play off a QB of Rodgers’ caliber. Likewise, Rodgers will not have to be called upon as team’s ultimate savior.

Front office and scouting personnel typically see turnover after the NFL Draft, so the timing of this move for Bazirgan is not surprising.

Last year, the Jets named Bazirgan their college scouting director, to replace Rex Hogan, who left for a better job with the Colts vice president of player personnel.

Bazirgan had worked for the Jets since 2004. He got a promotion, to pro personnel director, when the Jets hired Maccagnan as their general manager in 2015.

Before spending two years as pro personnel director (2015-16), Bazirgan was the Jets’ assistant director of pro personnel. His first job with the Jets was as a pro personnel intern and college scouting assistant in 2004. He was a college area scout for the Jets for eight years.

So for the second straight year first with Hogan’s departure and now with Bazirgan’s Maccagnan has to replace his college scouting director.

Maccagnan has an extensive background in scouting, though. He was the Texans’ college scouting director before the Jets gave him their general manager job. So Maccagnan is very hands-on with the Jets’ college scouting, in advance of the draft.

The Miami Dolphins reportedly claimed quarterback Bryce Petty off waivers from the New York Jets.

Field Yates of ESPN first reported the update Friday.

In a move widely expected, the Jets waived Petty on Thursday. New York signed Teddy Bridgewater and re-signed Josh McCown earlier this offseason and then selected Sam Darnold with the No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft.

There’s a chance one of two defensive ends — LSU’s Arden Key or Ohio State’s Sam Hubbard — will have a Foster-like fall into the 49ers’ laps, but the team is also keyed into Florida State’s Josh Sweat in this same range. Auburn’s Josh Holland and Wake Forest’s Duke Ejiofor also fit the unique LEO role in San Francisco’s defense.

A slider the 49ers would jump on is UTEP guard Will Hernandez, but Auburn’s Braden Smith is bound to be around in this range as another option. At wide receiver, Oklahoma State’s Marcell Ateman has drawn interest from them as a big-bodied target.

In contrast, the defensive back spike early and the middle-tier prospects don’t carry the same value. Following the best-available theme should work well for the 49ers on Day 2.

Kanye West, who recently had a Twitter love-fest with Trump, has been invited, says Scott, along with former NFL star Colin Kaepernick and other athletes and musicians of multiple races and ethnicities.

It’s not going to be a black-only event, says Scott. It will be a melting pot.

Kaepernick, of course, is the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who famously initiated a wave of protests by professional athletes in 2016 when he knelt during the national anthem before NFL games as a protest against injustice against African-Americans, especially police shootings of unarmed black men and teens. Trump, as a presidential candidate, vilified Kaepernick, saying, Maybe he should find a country that works better for him. And later, as president, Trump said players who kneel for the anthem should be fired.

The Giants will have two of the top quarterbacks in the upcoming draft at their complex for private visits this week, although the chances remain high that only one of them will be available when the team is on the clock at No. 2 next week.

But those who know Gettleman believe he would not use the second pick in a draft on a flawed player, particularly when he has a quarterback who is healthy and has won two Super Bowls—though Eli Manning has not played well in recent years—and a quarterback he never got to see last year (rookie Davis Webb)—because of stupid Giants’ decision-making in the last month of a lost season. Gettleman has to look at this draft and think about two players: — Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, the best back to come into the league in years.

Think of Philly defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, even with Star Wars weaponry all over his depth chart, trying to defend Barkley, wideouts Odell Beckham Jr., and Sterling Shepard and rising-star tight end Even Engram, with a solid left tackle (Nate Solder) suddenly making Manning less vulnerable to a great pass-rush. Beckham is 25, Shepard 24, Engram 23, Barkley 21.

Joel Embiid used some body english as he scampered down the baseline and tried to will Marco Belinelli’s off-balance 3-pointer through the net.

Belinelli buried it, because of course he would. Even the wild ones go in of late for the Sixers.

With their injured Embiid on the bench, the 76ers proved one more time in their biggest game in six years they can romp without their All-Star. Embiid wore a white mask as he rang a miniature Liberty Bell — then the Miami Heat got their bell rung in Game 1 of the first-round series.

The best thing reporters can do at T-minus 10 days to the NFL draft is listen to all the people they trust and know that much of what they’re saying might be a best guess because so few people inside an organization (one, perhaps) truly know what that team is about to do in the draft.

The Giants continue to scout the wide receiver position ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft later this month, hosting Florida International wide receiver Thomas Owens on a top-30 pre-draft visit Monday, an individual with knowledge of the visit tells NJ Advance Media.

Owens, 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds, caught 59 passes for 887 yards and six touchdowns while averaging a career-high 15.0 yards per reception in nine games. A knee injury suffered during a Week 10 practice cut Owens’ season short.

The injury also cost Owens an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine last month in Indianapolis.

Does not impress going in to crack block on safeties (Marshall ’17). Allowed a skinny post to slip through his hands vs. Old Dominion in 2014. Covers just five yards in his first four steps. Displays limited energy setting up post-corners as an X-WR. Questionable long gear on nine routes. Sinking at the top of his routes has been an issue dating back to 2014. Fails to consistently come back downhill for the ball (UCF ’16-PBU, Killings). Knee injury cut short his 2017 campaign.He’s made questionable decisions blocking back towards his GL (clip, UCF ’16). Will run the stutter-and-go outside the numbers (as an X-WR) but does not re-accelerate into the second portion of the pattern.

Bryant, 29, was released by the Cowboys on Friday and responded on Twitter:

He also hinted he might want to remain in the NFC East.

“I won’t say any teams, but being in the division, that’s a huge possibility,” he told Jane Slater on NFL Total Access, per Austin Knoblauch of NFL.com. “That’s a huge possibility. That’s something that I want. … It’s personal. Like I said, it’s very personal. I already had a plan of training and getting my mind right. I just want to do it that much more.”

If Bryant’s recent Instagram follows are any indication of his future plans, however, the wide receiver may instead choose to remain in Texas.

Toward that end, Wuerffel has assembled a 12-man roster that includes former UF standouts with NFL backgrounds like Doering, Taylor Jacobs, Brandon James, Frankie Hammond and Travis McGriff. Wuerffel’s club will need all the help it can get considering former NFL stars Michael Vick, Chad Ochocinco and Justin Forsett are fielding teams, as well.